Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a two-minute statement in relation to the previous vote.

Leave granted.

In relation to the previous vote, I wish to place on the record the principles which guide the Australian Greens in relation to all issues connected with justice and human rights for and in Palestine and Israel. We do so grounded in an understanding that the State of Israel continues to deny the right of self-determination to Palestinians and to dispossess them of their land.

We aim to rectify this injustice in ways that allow both Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace, security and equality, exercising self-determination, as described by the UN charter. We recognise the State of Israel's ongoing illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, and the expropriation of Palestinian land and water is illegal and must be opposed. We call on, and have always called on, all parties to abide by international law, and we have recognised the reality that the policies of the State of Israel are increasingly rendering a two-state solution unachievable.

In this work we have opposed all forms of racism, religious or cultural intolerance and discrimination in Australia and internationally. We have recognised that Palestinians in the State of Israel are subject to apartheid, while also recognising that there is, within Australia and across the world, a rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia that must be called out and that must be opposed, and that the attempt to frame criticism of the State of Israel's policies as antisemitic is utterly inappropriate. We do all of this while advocating peaceful and non-violent solutions. (Time expired.)